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Turkish Jets Shoot Down Russian Warplane Violating Turkish Airspace Near Syrian Border, After Repeated Warnings

November 24, 2015 

 

A Russian war plane shot down by Turkish fighter jets after violating Turkish air space near the border with Syria, November 24, 2015

A Turkish radar map showing how the Russian war plane entered and exited the Turkish air space, November 24, 2015.	A Turkish topographical map showing how the Russian war plane entered and exited the Turkish air space, November 24, 2015 anadolu

 

 

Turkish jets shoot down Russian warplane violating airspace

Anadolu, November 24, 2015

ANKARA --

Military says plane of 'unknown nationality' ignored repeated warnings before being shot down in line with engagement rules

Turkish jets have shot down a warplane believed to be a Russian-type SU-24 after it violated the Turkish air space.

The incident happened Tuesday near Turkey’s southern border with Syria, Turkish presidential sources said.

The warplane went down near Syria's northwestern Turkmen town of Bayirbucak.

Turkey's military said the downed foreign jet was given 10 warnings in five minutes before being shot down by two F-16 fighter jets.

"A warplane of unknown nationality that breached Turkish airspace over Hatay’s [province] Yayladagi region at 9.20 a.m. [0720 GMT] was alerted 10 times in five minutes," Turkish General Staff said in a statement, adding that the F-16s' response was in line with rules of engagement.

The military added that Turkish planes patrolling the region encountered the warplane at 09.24 a.m. local time.   

Turkey’s Chief of General Staff Hulusi Akar briefed President Recep Tayyip Erdogan about the situation following the incident.

Akar, along with Foreign Minister Feridun Sinirlioglu, also briefed Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

According to footage from the scene, the plane’s two pilots could be seen ejecting safely before the aircraft hit the ground in a huge of plume of smoke.

 

Turkey 'repeatedly warned' Russian warplane violating airspace

Military says aircraft 'of unknown nationality' given 10 warnings in five minutes over airspace breach

A jet brought down after violating Turkish airspace was given 10 warnings over a five-minute period, Turkey’s military said Tuesday.

In a statement on its website, the Turkish General Staff said a “warplane of unknown nationality” breached Turkish airspace over Yayladagi, Hatay province, which borders northwest Syria.

The military did not specify the type of plane but Turkish presidential sources and the Russian Ministry of Defense have identified the aircraft as a Russian SU-24.

Two Turkish Air Force F-16s challenged and brought down the plane in line with Turkish rules of engagement.

“A warplane of unknown nationality that breached Turkish airspace over Hatay Yayladagi region at 09.20 [0720GMT] was alerted 10 times in five minutes,” the general staff statement said.

The F-16s, which were on patrol in the area, “intervened” at 9.24 a.m. local time.

The plane was brought down in northwest Syria near the Turkmen town of Bayirbucak.

Media footage showed two parachutes floating to the ground before the aircraft crashed in a plume of smoke.

Russian warplanes previously violated Turkish airspace twice in October. The incidents came within a few days of the start of Russia’s air campaign in Syria on Sept. 30 and led to international condemnation.

 

Russia confirms warplane shot down

MOSCOW

Russian Defense Ministry in its statement has confirmed that a SU-24 aircraft from its 'Russian air group in Syria' has been shot down

Russian Defense Ministry has confirmed that its Russian SU-24 fighter jet has been shot down."

In a statement released on its official website Tuesday, the ministry said: "Today, an aircraft from the Russian air group in the Syrian Arab Republic crashed on the territory of Syria supposedly shot down from the ground."

Although it said that preliminary reports suggested the pilots had ejected safely from the warplane, the exact status of the Russian pilots was "being defined".

"The circumstances of the crash are being defined," the statement said, claiming that during all the flight time, the Russian warplane was flying within the borders of the Syrian territory.

Earlier, Turkish presidential sources said that Turkish jets shot down a warplane believed to be a Russian type SU-24 after it violated Turkey's airspace near its border with Syria on Tuesday.

The warplane was shot down in Syria's northwestern Turkmen town of Bayirbucak near Turkey’s border within the framework of engagement rules, the Turkish military added.

The Turkish General Staff said the downed foreign jet was issued 10 warnings in five minutes and it was shot down by two F-16s.

According to a media outlet’s footage of the downed aircraft, the pilots could be seen ejecting safely before the aircraft hit the ground in a huge of plume of smoke.

 

NATO to hold emergency meeting after Turkey downs jet

'NATO is monitoring the situation closely. We are in contact with Turkish authorities,' a NATO official says after Russian warplane violating Turkish airspace was downed.

NATO will hold an emergency meeting in Brussels at 5 p.m. local time on Tuesday after a Russian warplane violating Turkish airspace was shot down, a NATO official told Anadolu Agency.

"NATO is monitoring the situation closely. We are in contact with Turkish authorities," a NATO official said.

Turkish jets shot down a warplane believed to be a Russian-type SU-24 after it violated the Turkish airspace near Turkey’s southern border with Syria, Turkish presidential sources said.

The warplane went down near Syria's northwestern Turkmen town of Bayirbucak.

Turkey's military said the downed foreign jet was given 10 warnings in five minutes before being shot down by two F-16 warplanes.

"A warplane of unknown nationality that breached Turkish airspace over Hatay’s [province] Yayladagi region at 9.20 a.m. [0720 GMT] was alerted 10 times in five minutes," Turkish General Staff said in a statement, adding that the F-16s' response was in line with rules of engagement.

The military added that Turkish planes patrolling the region encountered the warplane at 09.24 a.m. local time.  

According to footage from the scene, the plane’s two pilots could be seen ejecting safely before the aircraft hit the ground in a huge of plume of smoke.

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Unknown fate for the Russian pilots who landed in the Turkman mount

SOHR, November 24, 2015

Lattakia province:

It is still unknown the fate of the pilots who landed in the Turkmen mount near the borders with Eskendaron after targeting their warplane which is considered as the first Russian warplane to be targeted in Syria. 

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Turkey downs Russian warplane near Syria border, Moscow denies airspace violation

By Tulay Karadeniz and Maria Kiselyova

Reuters, Tue Nov 24, 2015 8:16am EST

ANKARA / MOSCOW --

 Turkish fighter jets shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border on Tuesday after repeated warnings over air space violations, but Moscow said it could prove the jet had not left Syrian air space.

It was the first time a NATO member's armed forces have downed a Russian or Soviet military aircraft since the 1950s and Russian and Turkish assets fell on fears of an escalation between the former Cold War enemies.

A Kremlin spokesman said it was a "very serious incident" but that it was too early to draw conclusions.

Footage from private Turkish broadcaster Haberturk TV showed the warplane going down in flames in a woodland area, a long plume of smoke trailing behind it. The plane went down in area known by Turks as "Turkmen Mountain", it said.

Separate footage from Turkey's Anadolu Agency showed two pilots parachuting out of the jet before it crashed. A Syrian rebel group sent a video to Reuters that appeared to show one of the pilots immobile and badly wounded on the ground and an official from the group said he was dead.

Russia's defense ministry said one of its Su-24 fighter jets had been downed in Syria and that, according to preliminary information, the pilots were able to eject. It said the aircraft had been over Syria for the duration of its flight.

The Turkish military said the aircraft had been warned 10 times in the space of five minutes about violating Turkish airspace. Officials said a second plane had also approached the border and been warned.

"The data we have is very clear. There were two planes approaching our border, we warned them as they were getting too close," a senior Turkish official told Reuters.

"We warned them to avoid entering Turkish airspace before they did, and we warned them many times. Our findings show clearly that Turkish airspace was violated multiple times. And they violated it knowingly," the official said.

A second official said the incident was not an action against any specific country but a move to defend Turkey's sovereign territory within its rules of engagement.

SECOND PILOT

Russia's decision to launch separate air strikes in Syria mean Russian and NATO planes have been flying combat missions in the same air space for the first time since World War Two, targeting various insurgent groups close to Turkish borders.

The downing of the jet appeared to scupper hopes of a rapprochement between Russia and the West in the wake of the Islamic State attacks in Paris, which led to calls for a united front against the radical jihadist group in Syria.

Russia's main stock index fell more than two percent, while Turkish stocks fell 1.3 percent. Both the rouble and lira were weaker.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan was briefed by the head of the military, while Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu ordered consultations with NATO, the United Nations and related countries, their respective offices said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said the warplane crashed in a mountainous area in the northern countryside of Latakia province, where there had been aerial bombardment earlier and where pro-government forces have been battling insurgents on the ground.

"A Russian pilot," a voice is heard saying in the video sent to Reuters as men gather around the man on the ground. "God is great," is also heard.

The rebel group that sent the video operates in the northwestern area of Syria, where groups including the Free Syrian Army are active but Islamic State, which has beheaded captives in the past, has no known presence.

The official from the group, who declined to be named for security reasons, did not mention the second Russian pilot.

Broadcaster CNN Turk earlier reported that one of the pilots was in the hands of Turkmen forces in Syria who were looking for the other one, citing local sources. Russian military helicopters were also searching for the pilots, Turkey's Dogan news agency said.

Both Russia and its ally, Syria's government, have carried out strikes in the area. A Syrian military source said the reported downing was being investigated.

Turkey called this week for a U.N. Security Council meeting to discuss attacks on Turkmens in neighboring Syria, and last week Ankara summoned the Russian ambassador to protest the bombing of their villages.

Ankara has traditionally expressed solidarity with Syrian Turkmens, who are Syrians of Turkish descent.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is due to visit Turkey on Wednesday to discuss Syria, in a trip arranged before this incident. Erdogan is meanwhile expected to visit Russia for talks with Putin in late December.

About 1,700 people have fled the mountainous Syrian area near to the Turkish border as a result of fighting in the last three days, a Turkish official said on Monday. Russian jets have bombed the area in support of ground operations by Syrian government forces.

(Additional reporting by Daren Butler, Melih Aslan and Asli Kandemir in Istanbul, Orhan Coskun in Ankara, Maria Kiselyova and Vladimir Soldatkin in Moscow, Tom Perry and Sylvia Westall in Beirut; Writing by Nick Tattersall and David Dolan; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Philippa Fletcher)

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